Monster
by ShortNotVerticallyChallenged
Summary: Valerie was a demigod, meaning she knew how hard life could be and how hard it was to prove yourself. But when she found herself in a world where they considered her a monster, it reached a new level of struggling to prove she wasn't what they thought she was.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I own nothing. This is an idea that came into my mind, it's set after the Percy Jackson series and somewhere in the first season of Supernatural. I hope that you enjoy this!**

* * *

Trying to prove oneself was always hard. Trying to prove yourself as a demigod, worse. Valerie had worked that out long ago.

Even now, 8 years after first coming to camp she was still trying to prove herself. What kind of a joke was she? A daughter of Ares that hadn't gone on a single quest. Hell, she barely looked like a daughter of Ares, when she'd first been claimed her siblings had almost shoved her off to the Apollo kids. Apparently they weren't too keen on having the small girl with the blonde ringlets.

She was grateful that Clarisse had stood up for her and had taken care of her.

Even now they kept going with the comments. It didn't matter that she had fought in all of the battles that had gone on, that she had survived all of them. Nor did it seem to matter that she had proven herself a child of Ares, the ability to instinctively use any weapons she got her hands on and even curse them.

She was labelled by the blonde curls, blue eyes and lean body. Features typical of the children of Apollo.

At least now it made sense why she had all of that.

A legacy, that was what the Romans had called her when she had said that she was a child of Ares. There didn't seem to be a doubt in their mind, or anyone of her own friends, that she was somehow of some relation to the other Greek god. The least he could've done though was also give her some kind of ability to heal people, so that she'd be useful after the fighting was done. But no, what she'd gotten from Apollo was her looks.

Growling in annoyance at the looks she had kept receiving, and the taunts from her own siblings, she had gone to the forest. It was dangerous, yes. But usually the forest was quiet, and if there happened to be a monster, then good. She would be abel to take her anger out on it rather than end up going off at some other demigod that caught her in this foul mood.

She moved deep into the forest, not worrying much about getting lost.

Valerie knew how to get back. If she didn't know the way, then she'd easily figure it out and retrace her steps. She always did.

When she reached a clearing, the hair on the back of her neck was standing up. There was something that instinctively made her reach for a bow and arrow. Having them was more comforting than a sword. With a bow and arrow she could take down monsters before they had a chance to get her. Proficiency with a sword was still something she prided herself on though.

An odd smell was emanating.

It was a smell that she wasn't familiar with, which was putting her further on edge. She seemed to be standing one something yellow. Her eyes scanned the trees around her very quickly, trying to evaluate whether there was any immediate threat. When she was relatively certain there wasn't something waiting for her to let her guard down, she placed on of her arrows back in the quiver on her back. Lowering herself into a crouch she looked at the substance on the ground. It looked similar to the gold dust left behind when monsters were sent back to tartarus.

The consistency was off though.

"What in Hades name?" she couldn't help questioning that aloud.

'Run,' a masculine voice in her head told her. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. That didn't matter though, she trusted the voice in her head as weird as that sounded. She let the quiver on her back turn back into a necklace, the bow into a ring as she bolted in the direction of camp. All of her senses told her that she was running for her life.

And she honestly didn't doubt her instincts by this point. They had saved her often enough over the last few years.

"You can't outrun me," she heard another voice. It was female, but this one was completely foreign. She couldn't tell whether or not it was in her head, or it was actually called after her. Either way, it fuelled her on to push herself into a sprint. She could feel her blood pumping faster, the telltale sign of the adrenaline flowing through her body. She almost laughed, this was the most alive she had felt since the last battle.

Valerie supposed that she counted as an adrenaline junkie these days.

Her vision was fading at the corners of her eyes, her body felt it was on fire. She knew that this wasn't something that was normal, she had better stamina than that. Her body felt like it was being torn apart, a shriek slipping through the demigod's lips. She stumbled, falling onto her knees. It wasn't hard for the blonde to push herself up, continuing to run.

The darkness was crawling over her eyes again, trying to keep going, to reach the others. The others could help, there was safety in numbers.

Her limbs were going heavy, her eyes finally slipping completely into darkness.

'Father please,' she begged in her mind. She knew that he wouldn't listen to her, he would think her weak for this. With that on her mind, her mind slipped into the same darkness that her body had fallen into.

* * *

A groan of pain slipped by her lips before Valerie was fully conscious.

"Aren't you an interesting one?" a female voice mocked her, it was the same one that she had heard before whatever it was that happened to her. Her eyes blinked, trying to adjust to the room that she was in. She tried moving, only to find she couldn't. Looking down, she realised that she had been tied to the chair that she was in. "You know your kind are practically extinct?"

"What are you on about?" she hissed out, struggling to see how much leeway that she had to move.

"I almost thought that the witch would be unsuccessful, that she wouldn't find anyone," the woman commented, ignoring her. The blonde girl glared around the room. She couldn't catch a glimpse of whoever it was, but that was probably the point. The woman was undoubtedly trying to keep her on her toes.

"Well I'm here, what do you want?" she asked as nonchalantly as she could. Shifting she tried to evaluate her situation. She knew she had her bow and arrow, but those were out of reach, and they weren't all too useful at the current time. Considering she had those, it made her fairly confident that she still had her sword and dagger on her as well, but right now she wasn't sure how she was going to reach them, or get out of here alive after she did that.

The bobby pin that was her dagger was slid over the pocket of her jeans, she knew that there was no subtle way to reach that.

"Leave her alone," a deep voice broke her from her train of thought. The newcomer didn't seem to be on the side of the woman. The enemy of my enemy is a friend, Valerie reminded herself, trying to get a view of the opposing sides.

"Don't you like my new vessel?" the woman asked mockingly, walking passed her in the direction of the male that had entered.

"I don't like the sound of that," Valerie interrupted before anyone could say anything else on the matter.

"Leave her alone," the voice repeated, and Valerie was really hoping that the man could actually do something. And maybe tell her where she was and what the hell was going on.

"I collected her because he wanted me to," the woman said teasingly. Her dark hair covered any features that Valerie might have been able to make out. But she did have a nice body. With her facing away from the demigod, she shifted, trying to reach the bobby pin.

"What does he want with the girl?"

"Didn't I already say? She's going to be my next vessel, after we prepare her that is."

"I'll throw myself in tartarus before I allowed that to happen," Valerie muttered, squirming a bit more.

"Prepare her?" in that moment Valerie felt like yelling out something along the lines of 'Hey dude, save me then worry about the chick'. She managed to keep herself quiet though, managing to reach the bobby pin. A smile crossed her face at that.

"So that I can inhabit her naturally," the woman said, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. The concept of being taken over like that, in a similar way that Luke had been taken over by Kronos, honestly terrified her. And it wasn't happening. Ever. "You should know John, she isn't some mortal that you have to save. She's just as much of a monster as I am."

"What is she?" he asked, though the man's eyes narrowed at the demon, his eyes briefly flickering to the girl. She couldn't be older than 20, and she looked human. But then again, in his experience looking human didn't mean much. A human was a convenient disguise for most monsters.

"A demigod," the demon practically purred as she approached him, the smug look on her face. John froze up at the mention of the other monster.

"They don't exist anymore," he said, tightening his grip on the weapon he was holding. It wouldn't do too much to the demon, but it would at least be a distraction so that he could get out. In his experience, they didn't like being shot.

"You're looking at one right there, I summoned her myself. So are you going to leave me be, or are you going to kill her while I leave?" the woman said. She moved closer to him, smiling flirtatiously. At that moment she flicked her wrist, throwing him to the wall and pinning the hunter there. A gasp escaped her lips, the hunter dropping to the ground once again watching with wide eyes as the woman dropped, the demon seemingly trying to escape but not succeeding.

"I really don't like either of those plans to be honest," Valerie hissed in the woman's ear, watching as she fell to her knees. Watching on he watched her fall to the ground, but there was no visible wound. John tightened his grip on his knife as he watched the demigod cautiously, moving over the girl. "She's mortal?"

"She used to be," the hunter confirmed the girls question. Her blue eyes looked up at him, before shifting down to the woman in question, who was now gasping for air. The demigod was definitely concerned, which was something that surprised him. She started softly humming, trying to calm down the hyperventilating woman.

"Call 911," the girl across from him said, trying to keep her voice low so that she wouldn't agitate the woman anymore. John, who knew nothing about demigods other than the lore, looking on cautiously, but did as she asked anyway. It was only an hour later that he had taken the girl to a diner, after giving their statements to police and watching the woman be taken away by an ambulance.

"How did she survive being stabbed?" the older man asked her, his eyes narrowing at her. She'd recognised the cautious nature with which he approached her, even when she was in the car with him he hadn't taken his hand off of his gun. Based on their circumstances of meeting, she supposed that it was normal, especially because she hadn't heard the last part of the conversation between the man and the woman.

"Celestial bronze," the daughter of Ares answered honestly, watching as the man across from her tilted his head in an unasked question. "Doesn't harm mortals, passes straight through them… which is why I have to ask what happened?"

"She was a demon," John admitted. "Or at least she was possessed by a demon… your weapon must have killed the demon but left the human alive."

"Huh," was all that came out of her mouth, as a burger and chips were placed in front of her. She was aware of how stupid it sounded. But she didn't know how else to respond to that, settling for taking a large bite of the burger.

"You're a demigod?" he asked, his brown eyes boring into her. The word demigod was almost spat out, and at that moment she realised that demigod wasn't a good thing. That was something that surprised her.

"Uh… yeah?" was her, once again dumb, answer to the question. "Look I appreciate your help and everything, but I need to get back to camp…"

"The camp on Long Island?" was what he asked in return, and her eyes widened in shock. "That hasn't existed for over 60 years."

"I was there though… before whatever happened and I ended up with that chick talking about using me as a vessel," Valerie replied, almost frantic. Her appetite had left her at that point, as she moved to get up. John looked at her, eyes narrowing as he thought about it.

"We can check it out," he offered. Though he wasn't sure why he was doing that. Demigods, from all accounts before the wiping out of the camp, were violent and cruel at best. The girl across from him wasn't living up to that though.

The blonde nodded, almost desperately. There was concern evident in her voice as she moved quickly, getting into his car.

He didn't miss the fact that her eyes were constantly scanning the area, tapping her fingers and also her foot. It was something he had picked up before as well, how on edge she was, but her concern was now increasing that. Somehow, the hunter was almost hoping that it was nothing but a rumour that they had been destroyed.

Assuming that they were all like her. If they weren't, he was going to have to kill them himself. Especially if the demon that had killed his wife was now interested in using demigods for his own purposes.

His phone went off, breaking the silence. Valerie had looked at it, watching as it vibrated.

"Aren't you going to pick that up?"

"No."


	2. Chapter 2

John Winchester wasn't sure what he expected when he agreed to take her to Long Island. The closer they got there, the more nervous the older man got. For all he knew, he was walking straight into a trap.

The blonde girl, Valerie he learned her name was, had thrown herself out of the car before it had fully come to a stop. Her desperation seemed real enough. But then again, being a good actor wasn't something entirely out of the question. Grabbing another gun, he slowly followed her to where she had stopped at the top of a hill near a pine tree. Her face had contorted in horror as she looked at the rubble that was in the valley.

"What in Zeus' name?" she whispered to herself, though John clearly heard her. The pain and sorrow in her eyes were something that he recognised.

Before he could react, the girl had launched herself down to investigate.

"Chiron! Clarisse! Anybody?" she yelled out, and John tried to catch up to get her to be quiet. He wasn't sure whether there were still monsters, or anything else around and he wasn't going to risk his own hide because she was grieving.

"Be quiet," he ordered, similarly to how he bossed his sons around. The look in his eyes told her that he was serious, and she knew that he had his reasons. Hell, she was starting to feel a bit on edge being here.

They were in the middle of where cabins had once stood, and her eyes teared up as she looked at what remained. Apollo's cabin was still shining like gold in the sunlight, almost blinding. It was probably made out of gold considering it had survived, something that was finally confirmed for her. It wasn't surprising given how flashy the god tended to be. The door was wide open though, showing the mess of things inside.

A whimper escaped her throat as she looked away. Her eyes met the cabin that she used to live in, it was always rundown, in desperate need of a paint job. Now it was worse, half collapsed and burnt. Valerie didn't want to know what had happened.

There was one thing though, one thing that still gave her hope.

The campfire was in one piece.

There was a fire.

Without thinking to explain her actions to John, the demigod had moved towards it, knowing that there was a certain goddess keeping the flame alive. John would probably freak out if she knew what her plan was, that was Valerie's justification. Fumbling with her pockets, she pulled out a chocolate bar John had bought for her at the gas station.

'Hestia, please accept my offering and I plead for your help,' Valerie begged in her mind as she tore open the chocolate wrapper, throwing it into the fire.

"What are you doing?" John asked her. She supposed he had all rights to ask, considering she'd dragged him here.

"Trying to get answers," she replied, turning to him with the look of grief still on her face. "I need to know what happened, and I can only think of one person who could be able to and willing to tell me what I want to know."

"Thank you, child," a soft voice came from behind the hunter and the demigod. Both of them turned, and while John pulled out his gun, Valerie kneeled respectfully in front of the girl that stood in front of her. She looked perhaps eight years old, dark hair under a shawl with soft brown eyes that seemed to evaluate the people in front of her. "You are the first person to present me with an offering in a long time, please stand. And both of you relax, I do not wish to harm either of you."

"Yes milady," Valerie murmured, something that surprised the hunter that stood beside her.

"A hunter is someone that usually I would avoid, despite their lack of ability to harm me I do not enjoy being hunted," the goddess continued, her eyes locking with John's. It was enough to make him slowly put his gun away.

"Who are you?" he asked, feeling quite unsure of himself now.

"Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, Home and Family," the goddess responded calmly as she moved over to the duo. "You had questions for me, daughter of Ares?"

"Uh… yeah… well… I need to know what happened here," Valerie was stumbling over her words as she spoke to the goddess.

"I had a feeling that you might ask me that, if you will allow me to I can show you," the goddess offered, and Valerie couldn't help but nod in response.

* * *

 _Valerie was still standing next to John, but all of a sudden the camp around them was in the full splendour of how she had always known it to be. John was even looking around, seemingly surprised by what it was._

 _"This was 1952," Hestia explained as Valerie looked curiously at the clothing choice of some of the demigods. She vaguely nodded as the goddess that appeared as a child continued. "During the second world war hunters all over the world became aware of the existence of demigods. As you know it was the children of the big three that caused the war."_

 _"The big three?" John interrupted, asking his own question to try and clear things up a bit more. Valerie had to admit the hunter was taking this better than most. But then again, she supposed he was used to it in a slightly different form._

 _"Zeus, Poseidon and Hades," Valerie clarified quietly, waiting for the goddess to continue her explanation._

 _"They began associating the demigods with the monsters that hunted them, and over time the demigods in turn began attacking those they believed to be hunters in an attempt to defend themselves… unfortunately there was a young demigod born to a hunter, who was used in order to topple the demigods here," as she spoke, the images of invaders and fighting took over. Cabins on fire. The three watched as demigods ran through them, moving into battle. Archers retreating with empty quivers. "Those that survived the attacks left, attempting to survive outside of the camp. Chiron was among them, and satyrs… they continue in their attempts to protect and teach young halfbloods how to survive… unfortunately the children are often killed young."_

* * *

A moment later, they were back in the ruins that were empty aside from the three of them.

"I have seen in your mind the realm that you come from, and it gives me hope for what could be possible, though unfortunately the pantheon's have already crossed and that cannot be undone," the Goddess told her, her brown eyes so much wiser than the small form she had inhabited.

"Is there any chance-"

"No," the goddess interrupted before Valerie finished her question. "You have been brought her for a reason, that much is clear. You need to help them prevent the plans going on… perhaps later there will be an opportunity for us to return you… but you will need to prove yourself, demigod."

Prove yourself.

Valerie could've started laughing at that, the words that had haunted her throughout her entire life. Words that she never seemed to live up to. She managed to hold that back though.

"Of course," she answered politely. Hestia was one of the goddess' that was easy to like, and that meant that despite her desperation she didn't want to ruin her relationship with that goddess. Pissing off a god was never a good idea.

"You should leave," the goddess suddenly said as she looked at the two people in front of her. "I have no doubt that the monsters are already on their way, not all have left, lying in wait for people that seek out this old place of safety."

With those words of advice, the goddess disappeared. Valerie's lips twisted into a frown, turning to look at the hunter beside her.

"We should go," he told her, and the girl nodded in response.

"Definitely."

* * *

They had been driving for a week, almost non-stop. There were short breaks for food, stopping at motels to sleep at nights. John's phone rang fairly regularly, but he never answered. Whilst the phone made Valerie nervous, she had gotten used to it. The sound of it ringing no longer bothered her either.

John had told the demigod that they were hunting the thing that had brought her to this 'realm' as the goddess had called it. Valerie could tell that it went beyond that, but she didn't push it.

The two, a rather unlikely pair by any standards, had an understanding. They tended to stick with small talk, not going deep into one another's lives. Occasionally he woke her up when she had a nightmare, and occasionally she did the same thing for the older man. Neither of them were good at comforting one another, it felt too awkward. After waking they would go off on their own, doing whatever they could to calm themselves until they could fall asleep once again.

At the end of the week, she found herself breaking into a house in Sterling, Virginia. Virginia was a place where she had never been, but if she were entirely honest she wasn't too interested in sight seeing anyway. The blonde was too busy looking over her shoulder for any monsters that had caught up.

Currently they had been all clear.

That only caused her to worry even more.

"Sulphur," John announced as he ran his fingers over the windowsill. The blonde moved closer to the hunter, her eyes looking at the yellow substance. She ran it over her fingers, sniffing as it slightly.

"This is what I saw before the thing brought me here," Valerie murmured, looking to John, seeing whether he had some kind of understanding.

"It means that there was a demon here," was all that he said. Valerie nodded, looking around the room. She was thankful that there was no one in this room, somehow she always felt uncomfortable in a room with dead bodies. There was an illogical part in the back of her mind that half-expected them to shoot up and try to kill her.

"Great," she murmured, taking a few steps back. "So we're tracking the right thing?"

"I think so," the hunter responded as he looked around the room as well, trying to find evidence as to what it was trying to do here. It was an empty house.

"So what now?"

"We keep looking and trying to follow it," the man answered her, it was the same answer he always gave her. Valerie didn't bother trying to hide her displeasure at the comment. Her ADHD had been playing up over the last days and she felt she was going insane, and now, to top all of that off, she would be back in a car doing nothing for days while they tried to follow it again. She really wanted a fight right now. "Let's go."

The blonde followed him calmly, sitting herself in the car once again and leaning against the window. Her imagination was running wild, not noticing as John reached for his phone and lifted it up to check his voicemail.

What did catch her attention was when she was jerked by the car practically speeding away. Her blue eyes wandered over to the hunter, raising her brow. He didn't even look in her direction as he responded.

"It's in Chicago."

* * *

10 hours.

She had been stuck in the damn car for ten whole hours and she was going mental. John even seemed to be picking up on how bad her fidgeting was getting, but he was also used to it. What was good was if this was right, if the damn thing was in Chicago, then she'd at least get the fight that she was itching for. Though she wasn't too sure how that was going to go.

Night time had fallen, and the moment that they had reached the warehouse that they were going to for the demon, a woman had fallen out of the window. Valerie instinctively tapped the necklace, allowing the quiver to form around her. Her fingers started playing with the ring on her finger as she moved to approach the blonde woman.

John pulled her backwards, wary of any imminent danger.

"We'll meet them at the motel," John told her, pulling her towards the car. One thing that Valerie had learnt in her time with the man was to listen to what he said. She knew he'd been doing this 'hunting' thing for a long time, and she honestly trusted his instincts just as much as she did her own.

"Who are we meeting?" she asked once they were seated, already driving. John had fallen silent, running a hand through his hair at the question.

"My sons," he admitted, his voice lowering as he spoke those words.

"Hold up, you have sons?" she asked, voice increasing in volume at the surprise. Her eyes tried scanning over him. "They're the ones that have been calling, aren't they?"

"Not only them," John said, admitting that the calls that he had ignored had come from them.

"From personal experience, I suggest you stop ignoring your kids," she told him seriously. "Turns out that it can come back to bite you if you do. Not to mention what they think of the whole thing. Why are you doing this anyway? Do they know?"

John didn't turn to her, or respond to the demigods questions. But the serious look on his face didn't leave and Valerie was hoping that he was at least considering what she had proposed.

They'd broken into the motel room, waiting for his sons to arrive. Valerie was getting a bit nervous, wishing that she could duck away. She wasn't sure how this family reunion would go, and she wasn't sure how they'd take her presence at all. What she was hoping was that they would at least recognise their own father and wouldn't just shoot her as she sat, looking out of the window and trying to calm herself down.

Would they be happy seeing him? Or would they be angry?

Valerie personally would go for the latter, but then again… she supposed that most halfbloods would.

The door opened, causing Valerie to swing around, pushing herself against the wall and further into the shadows of the room.

"Hey," a deep voice called out, though Valerie knew the sound of the door alone had caught John's attention. Slowly, she watched as he turned to face his sons. The men's eyes wandered from her, to the man by her side. The look of shock was evident on both of their faces as they took in the features of their father. "Dad?"

"Hey boys," John greeted. By the sound of his voice she could tell he was happy to see them. A ghost of a smile covered her face as she watched. Her stomach twisted at the sight, wondering what it would be like to experience something similar. Blue eyes watched as the shorter brother approached his father, pulling him into a hug. The taller one stayed where he was, watching on in shock. There was blood on both of their faces.

Valerie figured they were probably the ones that had thrown the woman out of the window, which pushed her slightly more on edge.

The taller one also slowly started moving forwards as his brother pulled out of the embrace with his father. His own eyes were trained on his father, as they paused, looking at one another. Valerie could feel the tension between them, which caused her lips to twist down, head tilted slightly at the exchange. There was a definite strain on their relationship.

"Hi Sam," John had greeted him, though neither moved for a hug, even as Sam returned the comment.

"It was a trap," the shorter son said, looking at his father seriously. Even now Valerie found herself stuck in her position. Her eyes flickered to the window, wondering whether she'd be able to get out of it subtly. She doubted that would be possible, based on the age of the thing. It'd probably creak. Loudly.

"It's alright, I thought it might have been," John said calmly, nodding at his sons. His brown eyes wandered over both of his sons, taking them both in. He was glad to see both of them were alright, and possibly happier to see they were working together.

"Were you there?"

"Yeah, me and Val got there just in time to see the girl take a swan dive… she was the bad guy, right?" he asked them.

"Yes sir," both men responded, but Valerie noticed that the taller one, Sam she thought John had said, glanced back to the her. She wasn't surprised by that. She was travelling with their father, when they hadn't been in contact with him for god knows how long.

"Good… It doesn't surprise me, it's tried to stop me before," John said calmly.

"The demon?" Sam questioned, looking towards his father in confusion.

"It knows I'm close. It knows I'm going to kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell. It's trying to get away now, make itself stronger… it's the thing that brought Valerie to me," John explained, motioning for her to move closer. The demigod was tense, but she moved towards John and his sons despite that.

"How? Why?" the shorter son asked, looking at his father in confusion. Both of them were now glancing at the blonde, clearly trying to evaluate her. Valerie didn't flinch, only raising her chin to look him straight in the eyes. She couldn't back down now.

"I'm working on that," John offered, a smile on his face as he looked at his son. "As for Val, the demon was hoping for a new vessel. A stronger vessel."

"She's a kid."

"I'm not just a kid," Valerie's voice was low, blue eyes narrowing as she took into consideration the man that was standing in front of her. John placed a hand on the girls shoulder, her jaw clenched but she stood down, trying to relax.

"She is more than what she appears to be," John said calmly as he intervened.

"Look if she's helping you with this, then you should let us come as well. Dean and I can help you, dad," Sam argued, there was a desperation in him, this was personal. Valerie could tell that by the way he looked at his father.

"No, Sam," was John's curt reply. "Try to understand-"

"You're taking a girl that's barely an adult with you and you want Dean and I to just wait around and let you do this crusade?" Sam demanded, there was anger on his face.

"I don't want you to get hurt," John offered his son softly.

"You don't have to worry about us."

"Of course I do," John answered immediately, his eyes softening. "I'm your father. As for this one, I was hoping that you boys might take care of her."

"What?" Valerie asked, her voice coming out louder than she had thought it would. Unfortunately the shock hadn't helped her control that. At all.

"For your safety," John said as he looked at the demigod, who was shaking her head at him.

"None of the gods could make me," she retorted harshly. Sam tilted his head to the side, wondering about her use of the expression. "You said you wanted your sons to be safe, then they shouldn't be around me. I'm a magnet for monsters."

"They travel just as much as I do, and both of them also know how to fight," John's explanation annoyed her, but she settled for crossing her arms in frustration. "You two better keep her safe, no matter what."

"Yes sir," both of the men once again answered together. It came out so naturally as if it had been drilled into them. Perhaps it had been. John Winchester didn't come across as the most cuddly types in the world. Valerie had moved away, allowing the family to have their own time as they began to talk amongst another again. She noticed Sam hugging John, a soft smile crossing her face. It was nice to see them settle whatever problem they were having.

Her eyes widened when she saw a monster just behind John, she had no clue how it had gotten in, nor did she know exactly what it was. But it's skin was leathery, twisted around it, fingers long and topped off with claws. None of the men seemed to see it.

She tapped the necklace, removing her ring and notching the arrow. Taking aim, she fired. The monster in question howled, stumbling back, it was immediately followed by another arrow though, causing it to be reduced to gold dust.

"What?" she heard one of them ask, but her eyes continued to scan around the room.

"Daughter of Ares," one of them greeted, though it came out raspy and hissed.

"You really need to get your voice checked out," she commented calmly, it sneered, launching itself at her. Valerie quickly stabbed it with the arrow she was holding, before firing an arrow into the head of one that had dragged the shorter brother. "Run!"

The order had left her mouth, and she was glad that the men had listened to her. She covered the back, slowly moving behind them, trying to keep them covered as they moved to where their cars were parked.

"You can see them?" the shorter brother practically demanded, as she stood watch. Her bow and arrow were at the ready.

"I'm not a mortal," Valerie said without thinking.

"She means that she's not exactly human," John corrected the girl, looking at both of his sons. There was a silence for a few moments. "Take care of my sons."

The demigod nodded in response, keeping guard, just allowing them to have a proper goodbye. It was only when John and his sons were both in their respective cars, she jumped into the back of the smaller car with the brothers. The brothers watched their father leave in silence, before Dean backed the car out so they couldn't follow him.

Then the car took off once again.

* * *

 **A/N: So this chapter actually takes us into the series. There will be mentions of certain cases from the series, some will actually be taken in depth and others will be inbetween cases that occur from the series.**

 **: Thank you very much, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter is more about the development of character and the way they relate to one another as opposed to actual action. Just so you know.**

* * *

Both of the brothers had been silent for the hours following the encounter with their father. Thankfully the shorter one, Dean, was blaring the music. None of them were actually tired. Valerie was still on edge, though she'd reverted her weapons back into the jewellery she always wore. Her fingers were tapping on her leg, a slight relief from her ADHD.

She knew that both of the brothers were trying to figure out what she was, why their father would want them to take someone that wasn't a human. If she wasn't human, then it meant she, rather it, was something they should be hunting. And yet, she had saved them from the Daeva. She had been able to fight something that none of them could see, which marked her difference. Sam knew that Dean no longer saw a young woman in the back seat. Dean saw a monster. Neither of them were sure what she was, so the older Winchester kept glancing at her in the rearview mirror, fists tightly wrapped around the steering wheel.

It led to an awkward mixture of emotions.

The song, whilst familiar to the brothers, was foreign to the demigod sitting in the back. As it finally faded out, a new song starting up, her shoulders relaxed slightly.

"It's all the same, only the names will change," she started singing along, her eyes focussed out of the window. The street was empty, no other cars, no homes lining it. There was barely light as well, which Valerie preferred. Seeing the stars was the thing that she loved about camp, compared to living at home with her mum.

"I'm wanted dead or alive," her voice increased in volume at the end of the chorus. The brothers exchanged a look, surprised that she knew the song. When it ended, the older Winchester turned the music down a little bit, his green eyes gazing at the girl in his back seat once again.

"You like Bon Jovi?" he questioned, realising it was the first words he'd directed at the demigod. The girl jumped slightly, her eyes immediately darting to the drivers seat. She couldn't really see him properly though.

"Yeah… my brothers often played Bon Jovi at camp," Valerie responded with a shrug. Her heart sank at the thought of her siblings, even her brothers. Perhaps they had always been at odds with one another, but they were still family, and knew she would do anything to protect them.

"So you have a couple of siblings?" Sam questioned, trying to keep the conversation going. It was simple light small talk. Similar to the conversations she'd had with her father over the past few weeks.

"Used to," she murmured, though the brother's still caught on to what she said. They exchanged looks with one another, both confused. Before they could delve further into her life, she decided to turn the tables by asking her own question. "What about you, just the two of you? John was never real specific about things…"

"Sounds like him," Sam muttered. Dean shot him a look, though he knew that his brother was right. That Sam had a point. "But yeah, it's the two of us."

"Your name is Sam right? And you are?"

"Dean," the man responded, Valerie nodding in response as she took in that information.

"So dad knew that you weren't human, Valerie?" his brother asked, though there was a certain hesitance in his voice. The blonde bit her lip as she nodded, trying to formulate a proper response in her head. In the time she had been with John, he'd practically ordered her to never say what she was. But if she was going to be travelling with his sons, all of them supposed to be looking after one another… how could she not?

"Yeah, he saved me from a demon. Apparently it had summoned me, I was sitting there tied to a chair with no clue what was going on when he walks in and starts talking to the thing. I guess that it explained what I was, based on the fact that it was complaining that it couldn't possess me… then I stabbed her. Your father decided to take me with him after that," she shrugged her shoulders at the end of her mini rundown of the past week.

"You stabbed it?" Sam asked, disbelievingly. The demigod in question tilted her head to the side, wondering what he was aiming at.

"The possessed chick was fine?" she offered innocently, tilting her head to the side. Dean laughed aloud at what the girl had said, trying to imagine how that had gone down. Especially because their father wouldn't have abandoned a person once they had been injured, if they weren't some kind of a monster.

"So you're used to demons and other monsters then?" Dean questioned, though Sam could hear the unvoiced 'being one yourself' that he had tried not to say aloud.

"Demons… no, I honestly didn't believe your father when he first explained that to me. But monsters I'm all too familiar with," her voice darkened at the end when she mentioned monsters. "The line between hunter and hunted are usually a bit too close for comfort."

"You're saying that those monsters hunt your kind?" Sam asked, looking over his shoulder at the blonde girl in the back disbelievingly.

"They've been doing that for millennia," she admitted, not bothered by the turn of the conversation. "My first experience with a monster was a hellhound, found me when I was 9… I was lucky that a satyr was there with a convenient sword."

"So first you see the Daeva and now you tell us you can also see hellhounds," Dean muttered under his breath.

"I don't expect you to see them, the mist usually hides monsters from mortals. It's why I was surprised when I found out there were actual mortals that had become hunters," the blonde responded calmly, though her fingers were all twitching and fidgeting.

"The mi-"

"Why do you keep saying mortals?" Dean interrupted his brother, his eyes glancing back at her once again before refocussing on the road that was in front of them.

"Oh no worries, I'm not some immortal being. But mortals are like… human?" she offered. "My dad's an immortal. I'm half human though… roughly speaking…"

It was true, being a daughter of Ares. But she supposed being a legacy as well meant that she was a little less than half human.

"So what is he?" the hunter asked her and she cringed at the direct question.

"A god," she answered, trying to make it look like she didn't mind telling them. "Like… not the God with a capital 'G' and all that, just a small 'g'. A pagan one if you want to be specific."

"You're telling me that pagan gods can have kids?" Dean questioned, raising his brow. In his experience, they tended to be too busy killing people and eating sacrifices to bother having kids with the humans. He noticed the look of confusion on the demigods face at his question.

"Well… yeah… they used to have heaps of kids," Valerie responded, tilting her head to the side.

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said used to, why don't they have heaps anymore?" Sam questioned, turning around in the chair to look back at the blonde girl. He didn't miss the way that her face dropped at the question, looking down into her hands.

"Well… they got overrun by monsters," the demigod in the back fought to keep her voice steady as her mind jumped back to the images of what had become of the camp. It was a shame. Beyond that it hurt her. It had been the only place she had ever felt safe, and it was gone. "Without a place to train demigods, it means that a lot of them never learnt to fight. Easy pickings."

The last words were muttered darkly as her blue eyes shifted out of the window once again. It was quite obvious to Sam that she was done with talking, so he shot his brother a look before he could even try to open his mouth and keep digging.

Valerie ended up being the first to fall into the temptation of sleep.

* * *

 _It was quiet. Eerily still. Valerie gripped the bow in her hands tightly, her eyes scanning the area around her._

 _This wouldn't last long._

 _Valerie almost immediately knew where she was. The Battle of the Labyrinth. This was inside camps borders, shortly before the fighting had broken out. She'd started out with Apollo cabin, spending the beginning of the battle as an archer up in a tree. Perhaps she was a coward, perhaps she wasn't truly a daughter of Ares._

 _The biting sound of metal clanging made her cringe, but she tried to straighten herself out as she aimed an arrow at an enemy. Another demigod, one that had been her friend. That was a long time ago though._

 _The arrow hit its target, Valerie biting her lip and blinking to fight against tears that were threatening to form. Was it wrong to mourn for a traitor? Especially if they were mislead?_

 _Valerie could understand where they were coming from. In her own way, she had been close to joining Kronos, but she knew that that would only end in destruction. Even if they had been betrayed by the gods, even if they didn't care about their kids, the titans would only be worse. An apocalypse was something that Valerie was all too keen to avoid. It was unfortunate that the traitors didn't realise that an apocalypse was the only possible outcome of the titans regaining their power._

 _Fighting back the emotions, she kept going through the motions, not allowing herself to process what she was doing._

 _War was not something great. Something she could never say aloud being the daughter of the God of War. But she would not regret thinking it, because it wasn't great, there was nothing beautiful about it._

 _People were injured. Dying. Dead. Perhaps, in future, people would say the fallen had fought heroically and the survivors were heroes. The truth was they were all murderers. But should they be counted murderers in this situation? After all, if they didn't kill the others, there was no way around the fact that they would be killed instead._

 _Reaching back to her quiver, she cursed as her fingers couldn't find anymore arrows. That was bound to happen, which was exactly why she always carried more weapons than just a bow and an arrow. A bonus was, any weapons she picked up she'd be able to use. There were some helpful skills that came with being a child of Ares. Beyond that, if she saw that someone was about to stab her, she might just have enough time to turn it into a toy sword._

 _Though at the pace this war was going at, it wouldn't be as simple as it was during capture the flag. At least there were rules to that. No maiming and no killing._

 _It slowed things down a bit._

 _People were more conscious of their swings and making sure that the harm wouldn't be too great. That was out of the window by now._

 _Drawing her sword, she jumped between Travis and an unclaimed camper that she knew she had seen in passing over the years. 'Shame,' she thought to herself as she stabbed him._

 _"Thanks," the son of Hermes had yelled once he realised what had happened._

 _"All good," she threw back, stumbling backwards as she attempting to block the swing of another blow. The monster she was dealing with was a lot stronger than her, so she knew that she needed to outmanoeuvre it. If she kept going with these close calls that she could barely block, she'd be dead within a few minutes. It cackled, obviously very aware of the predicament the demigod was facing._

 _"What in tartarus did I do to deserve this?" she mumbled quietly, keeping her eyes trained on the enemy she was facing._

 _That was her first mistake._

 _A sharp pain brought her out of her focus, blue eyes widening as the daughter of Ares saw the sword that had gone through her back._

* * *

A gasp escaped her throat as she shot up, hand to her stomach and head scanning the area frantically. This definitely wasn't the car that she had fallen asleep in.

She didn't have a clue where she was. The room had walls that looked like they were in desperate need of some paint, old furniture, including another single bed.

"Hey?"

Valerie launched herself off her bed, taking a defensive situation with the wall to her back. It was the taller man she had met yesterday. John's son, Sam. Her eyes closed as her fists clenched, a deep breath escaping her mouth. Sam in turn gave her space as he watched her, it took a few minutes until he saw the telltale signs that her body was starting to relax again.

"Your names Valerie, right?" he said softly, catching her attention when he was sure that she had snapped out of what came over her. He didn't doubt for a minute that she suffered from something like post traumatic stress disorder.

"Yeah…" she answered, trying to keep her voice steady. It didn't work, which made her stomach clench. He probably thought she was more of a joke than a demigod. For Hades' sake she thought she was more of a joke than anything else so how could someone else not think the same?

"I'm Sam," he introduced himself properly. They had skipped the whole introductions last night, so she felt it was kind of sweet that he was trying to catch up with that now. The blonde nodded, biting her lip and allowing herself to drop, sitting back on the bed.

"When did we get here?"

"Late, Dean and I figured we couldn't just leave you in the car," he offered, an almost joking smile on his face as he moved towards her. Rather than sitting on the bed next to her, he sat on the bed opposite her. It was another gesture that the demigod appreciated. She didn't want to accidentally stab him after he had been nice to her.

"So…" her voice trailed off, unsure where she was going with the sentence. Sam gave a sympathetic smile.

"I have a question about last night if that's alright?"

"Shoot," she responded calmly, glad that he hadn't tried to ask her what her dream was about. There was no way he didn't know about the nightmare, based on his almost immediate response to her waking up.

"You said 'the mist', I was wondering what you meant by it," as he asked her, she smiled, remembering that he had tried to ask before his brother had spoken over the top of him in order to get to the bottom of what she was. Of why she spoke the way she did. Valerie took in a large breath of air, running a hand through her hair, before looking up at him again.

"Uh… it's like this… veil I suppose?" she offered, realising how lame her explanation was. "Its a force that twists what mortals see, so they remain oblivious to monsters and all that kind of thing. So instead of seeing me use a bow and arrow, mortals would usually see me using a gun. And instead of the monsters they normally see ordinary people… which is weird cause you guys saw nothing."

The silence was back for a while, the two sitting. Neither were really sure how to continue conversation and escape the feeling of awkwardness.

"So there's a lot of humans that are hunters?" Valerie broke first, looking at Sam with her head tilted to the side. She was hoping he'd indulge her questions now that he and his brother had their one's answered.

"Not that many," Sam admitted. "Usually people who have worked out these monsters exist through personal experiences, or grew up with parents that were hunters."

"Which are you?" she asked, it was an innocent question. But at the way his Adam's apple bobbed, she had a feeling that it was an extremely personal question. One that he'd rather not answer. "You don't-"

"Both," he admitted, looking down at his hands and away from her.

So much for that moment of bonding.

The door swung open loudly. Both Sam and Valerie's eyes both shifted to the door, where the older Winchester stood, takeaway in his hands.

"Bought us some breakfast," he announced, watching as his brother and the girl moved towards him, all of them sitting down around the coffee table where Dean had dropped the food, pulling things out of the bags he gave them to the respective people as he announced what it was. "Egg white McMuffin for Sammy, they don't have breakfast salads sorry, and a sausage and egg McMuffin for you."

While Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's antics, Valerie couldn't help the smile that spread on her own face.

She knew that she could at very least get to like being around them.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for everyone who has read this, and those who have liked/followed/reviewed the story! Another chapter will be coming soon, which will actually focus on a case, though I haven't decided whether I'm going with one from the tv show or an original one yet. Still I hope that you liked the exploration of the character, and the development of relationships that this chapter had!**

 **PrincessMagic: I'm glad that you're enjoying the story, I hope you also enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Guest: I'm very glad that you've enjoyed it so far! Thank you for your kind review!**

 **Guest: I hope that you also enjoyed this chapter, and with any luck the grammar is still on point... One day I'll invest in a beta-reader to double check that, but your review is helpful feedback that it seems to be alright!**


	4. Chapter 4

"We've got a job," was the first thing Valerie processed when she woke up. There was a grumbled sound in response that she herself couldn't even place, as she tried to just go back to sleep. They'd been at the one motel for about 4 days, and if she was being honest, she was starting to get used to it.

Still, 5 hours later she found herself in the back of the car, arms crossed as she leaned back against the chair. When they'd left, it had still been dark, something that Valerie wasn't happy about. She was still wondering what got Dean to crawl out of bed.

Even Sam had fallen asleep in front of her, which wasn't at all surprising. If she could, she would've fallen asleep as well. For some reason though, sleep decided to remain just beyond her grasp.

The demigod was actually quite happy about that as she watched Dean taking a photo of his brother sleeping beside him.

She didn't feel strongly enough to intervene, instead just shaking her head. The blonde couldn't help the ways that her lips curled up slightly though, Dean turning and giving her a cheeky grin before he focussed his attention back onto the road.

It didn't last long.

As he pulled out a plastic spoon, Valerie didn't want to know where he got it from, why it was there, or how long it had been there for, her head tilted to the side. By the time that he'd put it in his brothers mouth, who knew how that hadn't woken Sam up, Valerie was giggling uncontrollably. He managed to sleep through that as well somehow. As he pulled out his phone again, he waggled his eyebrows as he briefly locked eyes with the girl in the back.

Dean turned up the music, causing her giggles to turn into laughter as Sam shot up, looking around in confusion. He turned back looking at her, where she tried her best to look innocent but couldn't help herself from laughing. His accusing look was then thrown at his older brother.

"Very funny," he commented sarcastically. That alone was enough to temporarily sober the demigod up, Dean still wearing the amused grin though.

"Not a lot of scenery here, you gotta make your own," Dean excused himself. It was at that point that both Sam and Valerie had rolled their eyes at the older Winchester's excuse. It was terrible at best.

"We're not gonna start that crap up again! The prank stuff is stupid!" Sam commented, Valerie leaning further back in her seat as she tilted her head to the side.

"Switzerland," she commented, drawing the attention of both of the brothers.

"Scared of what could happen?" Dean mocked, a grin on his face.

"Yes actually," the blonde shrugged, not bothered at all by what she was admitting. She noticed the boys glance at one another, Sam turning to look at her questioningly. A grin crossed her face as she recalled the events that seemed so long ago. "Last time I ended up caught in a prank war my clothes were two sizes too small for a week, I could only speak in rhymes and shaving cream ended up literally everywhere, along with other booby traps."

That was exactly why you didn't want to get caught in a prank war between Aphrodite's cabin, Hermes' cabin and Apollo's cabin. In her own mind, she did get them back by turning their weapons into toys during capture the flag. That and a few more traditional pranks that her other siblings also got involved in.

It was something that no one had succeeded in escaping.

Similarly to how many other things went, there ultimately ended up being a divide that formed in the camp. Cabins split themselves into sides, and based on that anyone was fair game. It had been a lot of fun, until it had escalated into harmful 'pranks'. That was when Chiron put his hooves down.

"Your clothing ended up two sizes too small and you could only speak in rhyme?" Sam repeated, disbelief evident in his voice.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" the demigod answered with a smile, leaning back into her chair. "It's what happens when you get into a prank war with demigods. Some of them have abilities."

"What can you do?"

"That's what you'll find out if you're not careful," her blue eyes narrowed at both of the brothers. Truthfully, she didn't know how useful her abilities would be in a prank war, assuming that she was going to help them stay alive. Being in a life or death situation and having your gun turn to rubber wouldn't be the funniest thing.

Of course there was the option of doing something to the Impala, that'd certainly rile up Dean. It seemed to be the only thing other than his father and brother that he had a commitment to. In Valerie's opinion, she wasn't sure if it was that healthy considering he called it 'baby'. Sam there were options to do with his computer.

Or on a less extreme note she could just go with classic pranks on both of them. Though she supposed that that might just encourage them to involve her in the prank war. At least if she gave them 'real' consequences they might ignore her.

Valerie resigned herself to waiting for the first prank to be directed at her and then figuring it out based on that. If things escalated too far, then she would still be able to escalate as well, which was always a good back up.

"So what are we even going to be looking for?" she asked, leaning forwards and holding onto the back of Sam's seat to give her leverage to pull herself forward to see him.

"A pretty misogynistic spirit-"

"What?" she interrupted, tilting her head to the side and smiling innocently as she waited for a definition for the unknown word.

"Someone that hates or doesn't trust women," Sam clarified, pausing as he watched her nod in understanding. "Apparently it takes girls and hangs them up in the rafters."

"I'm starting think I'm not going to like this job," the demigod commented, looking between the two brothers.

"We don't know if it's real yet," Dean responded to the girl. It was unspoken that they would do whatever it took to protect her, like his father ordered. Though through sparring with her he had learnt that she could do more than just shoot arrows. He didn't doubt that she could care for herself. Given that from all accounts she both hunted and in turn was hunted by monsters, he supposed that she never had a choice. "So what happened?"

"About a month or two ago this group of kids go poking around this local haunted house and they see a dead girl hanging in the cellar," Sam explained the situation as the two other people in the car listened to him. He was always the one that found the cases, and he realised that while Valerie was interested she was a bit like Dean. Instead of looking herself, she let him tell her about weird going ons.

"Anybody ID the corpse?"

"By the time the cops got there, the body was gone," Sam answered with a shrug. It was clear that he believed that there was indeed something there. But neither Dean nor Valerie were all that convinced. Dean followed that up, asking where his brother got the information from. There was a silence, that was quite awkward. Sam felt unsure with passing that information on, when he finally did the hesitance was still obvious. " "

Valerie didn't hold back a short laugh.

"I thought that your research came from reputable sources," the blonde teased, amusement sparkling in his eyes as Sam shot her a dirty look. It only made the demigod dissolve into giggles, rather than having the intended affect.

"We've got to find ourselves something to hunt, there's nothing wrong with checking this out," Sam defended himself from both his brother and the girl that had joined their little party. Dean was the one who ultimately sighed, giving in to his brother's argument. Valerie was starting to hope that maybe, just maybe, this would be nothing more than a simple rumour.

* * *

"We should've started with this," Valerie commented as they walked towards the abandoned house. They arrived in the town at night, interviewing the kids before they went to the motel. So far today they'd had breakfast, interviewed the guy who took them there and were finally at the house that was supposedly haunted.

"Well we're looking at it now," Dean responded dryly, all of them were looking at the state of the house. It was definitely run down. "So much for curb appeal."

"Obviously ghosts don't think about that too much," Valerie answered with a shrug. She was creeped out, mentally throwing prayers to her father. She didn't want to show that she was in fact scared, unsure what was going to happen. Personally she was just hoping that she wouldn't be hung up on the rafters. Sam threw her a comforting smile, and Valerie tried to return it, it resembled more of a grimace. Mentally she winced at the thought, knowing that her fear was showing.

She was a Daughter of Ares, a ghost shouldn't scare her. If it tried to kill her, she had to kill it first. That was her overall aim.

"You got something?" Sam called out, his attention turning to his brother.

"The EMFs no good," Dean answered, concentrating on the device he was holding in his hands before he looked up at his younger brother again. Whilst he explained why it was probably screwed, he finally made the decision to go in and check it out. Valerie followed without question, not allowing her body to hesitate. Pulling her dagger out, she clenched it tightly in her hand. Her blue eyes were scanning the room for any sign of the ghost that was meant to be there, trying to stay close to Sam. Having one of the guys with her might just stop it from trying to get her she reasoned mentally.

It was creepy at best, blackened walls that were covered with odd red drawings all around them. Nothing was that familiar to Valerie, but that was because there was nothing Greek that was there. Based on the conversation going on between the brothers, they did however recognise some of the symbols.

"This is exactly why you never get laid," Dean mocked his brother.

"Intelligence has it's own appeal," she commented with a shrug. Dean threw her a look, raising his eyebrows. Valerie just shrugged again. "Like… if I were to pick a guy to marry, I'd hope he'd be intelligent."

"There might be a hope for you after all, Sammy," Dean clapped his brother on the shoulder. Both Sam and the demigod rolled their eyes at the older Winchester's antics. Thankfully both of the brothers turned their attention back to the markings that were on the walls rather than going on about it. "Have you seen this one before?"

"No," Sam responded, both brothers focussed entirely on one symbol. It looked like a plus, with a hook hanging on the bottom. Again, it wasn't familiar to the blonde. She fidgeted instead, her eyes still darting around the room. At one point she was certain she saw movement, that she saw something, her body shifting towards the brothers as she looked at that spot. Her grip on her weapon tightened. Swallowing she tried to stay still, eyes continuing to scan. Breathe. Slow your heart. Focus. She flinched as a hand landed on her arm, turning to see Sam.

"I'm alright," she told him, unsure whether he'd verbally asked her or not. She was happy that they were leaving though, all her senses telling her she was in danger. Somehow, the blonde wouldn't have been surprised if it was all in her head though.

She flinched as a foreign sound entered her ears, eyes starting to the cause and the brothers. They were having the same reaction, something that relieved her because it meant she wasn't just going insane. The trio rushed to the door, the demigod in the corner behind Dean. She would've preferred standing right in front of it and just shooting if anything went wrong, but that would also endanger the brothers.

They stormed in, immediately blinded by bright lights. Valerie was behind the boys, but she could practically sense where they were as she instinctively through the knife. A crashing sound echoed, one of the lights going off. At that point she realised it was probably just torches.

And she'd successfully attacked a mortal.

Wincing at the thought she mentally slapped herself for being so worked up.

"What the hell?" an unfamiliar male voice broke the silence.

"Just a couple of humans," another murmured, the lights being shifted away. As Valerie's eyes readjusted she raised an eyebrow at the two people she saw standing there. Nerds, that would be the best way to describe them. One with curls and glasses, and another who seemed to be trying too hard to look cool.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked, a question that was also bothering both his brother and the demigod.

"We belong here," the curly haired man responded as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We're professionals."

"Professional what?"

"Paranormal investigators," he answered in a tone that made it obvious he thought the trio standing across from him were idiots. Valerie almost started laughing at the thought, the brothers looking at one another in a way that clearly stated they couldn't believe the turn of events. Though there was also some sense of amusement there as well.

"You have got to be kidding me," Dean commented, his eyes darting between the card and the two men.

"I honestly don't think they are," Valerie said with a false cheeriness, unable to get rid of the amused smirk that was on her face. These guys didn't have a clue what they were in for, if they actually found anything.

"We're huge fans," Dean commented sarcastically. It wasn't something that could be missed easily.

"We know who you guys are too," the guy responded. The trio of hunters stopped, turning to face him uneasily. "Amateurs. Looking for ghosts and cheap thrills."

At that the trio relaxed once again. It would've been a lot worse if the two 'paranormal investigators' knew the truth about hunters and everything in the real world. They didn't seem cut out for it at all. What was amusing though was the discussion in which Sam and Dean pretended to know nothing about EMF. Whilst it was amusing for all three of them, the demigod was slightly distracted. Valerie, while Sam and Dean kept the two men busy asking questions and getting arrogant and condescending answers, quickly retrieved the knife that she had thrown. The mist probably made it seem as if she had shot at them and missed or something.

Sometimes it was really useful.

Leaving the house to the two men, that were sure that they knew what they were dealing with, they ended up returning to town.

"Do you want to help me in the library or go with Dean to check on the records of this girl?" Sam asked her as they had settled back in. So far she had gotten away without doing much research, though the brothers hadn't required an explanation yet. She didn't want to start on the whole, 'give me Ancient Greek, English doesn't work for me,' spiel yet so she just smiled.

"I'd like to check the records with Dean if that's alright," the blonde offered diplomatically, a small smile on her face.

"Alright."

* * *

"So much for nothing," Valerie murmured to the brothers, her eyebrows knitted together as she watched a body being wheeled out of the house that only yesterday they decided was clean of paranormal activity. Something inside her was just grateful that she wasn't the body though.

"What happened?" Dean asked another man who happened to be on the scene.

"A couple of cops say that the poor girl hung herself," the tiro exchanged unsure glances. As he continued his description, Valerie couldn't help but feel more and more uneasy.

They made the slow walk back to the Impala, quietly talking about how they planned to deal with what was going on.

"Valerie should stay out of this one, if it's attacking girls particularly," Sam said, looking between his brother and the demigod in question.

"If it's attacking girls, maybe it'll show itself if we have her with us," Dean countered.

"You want to use her as bait?" Sam questioned, looking at his brother as if he had grown another head. Or killed a human. In this case it was probably more the latter, and referring to her inevitable death. At least that's how Valerie was analysing the situation.

"Do you have a better idea, Sammy?"

"Yeah, having a look around and working it out without putting her at risk," Sam was starting to raise his voice at his brother, though Dean didn't seem to waver at all when it came to his own thought process.

"Dean's right," Valerie finally spoke up for herself. She at least knew how to defend herself. If the monster was anything like what she was used to, she wouldn't be completely helpless. She couldn't allow another mortal to die just because she was too scared to take on whatever this was. Sam looked at her disapprovingly, while Dean seemed a mixture of smug and proud of her. "It'll be three against one if it shows up Sam… those are pretty good odds compared to what I'm used to."

The tallest of the group sighed, running a hand through his hair as they finally all managed to get into the Impala.

"We'll stick together though, no splitting up. Definitely not for you Val," Sam gave in, though the demigod could see that he was still concerned about it. It made her smile, not many people had ever cared whether or not she would survive. It was comforting to know that at least here, wherever this America was, someone would mourn her.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Sorry guys, I've got exams over the next couple of weeks so I haven't got as much time as I normally would in order to update. I've gone with an episode, which you'll all recognise, and it'll be finished off in the next chapter.**

 **After that there's going to be an original case, centred around Valerie's world.**

 **Annabeth616: Thank you very much for the review, here's the update you've been waiting for. I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **EmmaSEWW: Here you are!**

 **2NE1ANGEL: Here you are, I hope you also enjoy this chapter!**

 **Guest: Thanks for your review. I'm glad you are enjoying the story, and sorry that the update took so long.**

 **PrincessMagic: You're back! Glad that you're continuing to enjoy this story!**


	5. Chapter 5

It was dark when they returned, Valerie barely able to see the brothers despite how close they were to her. The only thing that was clear to see, were the cop cars and torches of the cops that were still there.

"I guess the cops don't want more kids screwing around in there," Sam commented as he watched the scene unfolding.

"Typically they try to stop people from dying," the blonde answered lightly, though there was something almost mocking in her voice. Sam immediately understood the strange mix of ADD and fear that was playing up, but it didn't stop him from rolling his eyes.

"We still gotta get in there," Dean voiced his own thoughts, his eyes scanning for any possibilities of getting inside. It looked relatively well guarded.

"Bait," the female offered after a few moments of silence. "Considering I'm bait for the thing inside, I suggest you two figuring out who's coming with me and who's gonna be cop bait."

"Ow," a foreign voice hissed. It Dean's attention, and Valerie's once she saw Dean's reaction to something. Her head twisted, a grin forming on her face as she took in the sight of the people there.

"I don't believe it," Dean murmured.

"I'm all too happy about it, they're perfect scapegoats," Valerie offered, a smirk playing on her features as Sam had twisted to see what his brother and friend were on about. Dean nodded, standing up slightly so he wasn't as close to the ground.

"Who are you gonna call?" he yelled out gruffly, and by the reaction of the cops, it had worked all too well. They immediately took off in pursuit of the two 'paranormal investigators', and as soon as they had gotten away, the trio had launched themselves from their position to get back into the house, closing the door behind them.

Getting out of the house would be a problem that they could worry about later. The brothers had grabbed guns, throwing one to the daughter of Ares. She caught it calmly, her eyes scanning to catch sight of anything moving. Her current philosophy was along the lines of 'shoot first, ask questions later'. Somehow she knew it would probably bite her in the ass if she wasn't a bit more selective. A part of her was just hoping that this thing would be so obviously not human that it didn't really matter.

They'd gone down to the basement quickly, looking around for any evidence of the murders that had supposedly happened there. It just seemed to have pickled jars, and really, Valerie was quite bored.

That was until a sound of rattling caught her attention. Following the example of the boys, she followed Sam, holding the gun out in front of her. She swallowed thickly, waiting for one of the boys to open it as her finger rested on the trigger.

A rat ran out, causing Dean to cringe back.

"Man I hate rats," he muttered, the look of disgust obvious. It was so anti-climatic that it forced a weak chuckle out of Valerie's throat.

"Would you rather it was a ghost?" Sam asked dryly.

"Yes," Dean answered. Valerie shook her head in amusement, turning around to head back to checking out the basement so that she could get out of there. A moment later she froze as she took in the creature raising an axe.

Raising the gun she fired immediately.

That definitely caught the attention of both of the brothers. They turned, watching as the shadow like thing recoiled, Valerie shooting another round. The two brothers also attempted to shoot it themselves a few times before it finally dissolved into a black mist with red eyes.

"What the hell kind of spirit is immune to rock salt?" Sam yelled at the two people he was currently working with. Valerie moved forwards, her eyes scanning the room for movement. This was what she was born for. She had been born to fight. Whether it was with a sword, or whether it was shooting monsters. Secretly she was kind of hoping for Ares' blessing right now because that'd make destroying this thing a hell of a lot easier.

All of them began moving for the stairs quickly, Valerie hadn't even realised it had reformed until another shot echoed out. She realised that it had gone after Sam in that moment, quickly turning and firing another shot at it to try to distract it's advance on Sam. Mentally she was wondering where the hell Dean had ended up.

Sam was managing, despite the direct attack. This time it looked more human… at least humanoid. But that was probably even more terrifying that when it had disappeared into that black mist. That seemed less threatening.

Especially because it couldn't swing an axe in that form.

The trio had stumbled out of the house, landing literally in a heap as they'd all fallen in the desperate attempt to get out. Still Valerie had rolled to her feat with ease, ignoring the brother's progress as she bolted for the line of trees. Sam had overtaken her a few moments later, and she knew that Dean was also on his way.

She slowly once she hit the foliage, lightly panting. She twisted just as Dean had hit the tree line.

"Can we just go back to the motel?" she asked softly, tilting her head to the side.

"I second that," he muttered gruffly, pissed off by the events that they had just gone through, storming off in the direction of the Impala.

Valerie struggled to keep up with the two men, practically running to keep up with their fast walking pace. She was grateful when they finally reached the Impala, quickly taking the seat behind Dean like she often did.

Within minutes she had fallen asleep.

* * *

 _"The last demigod," a voice echoed around her. Everything was black, too dark to even make out a silhouette. Perhaps that was a good thing, Valerie thought to herself, trying to pinpoint the voice. It was coming from every direction though. The most frustrating of all was that it was so familiar._

 _"Don't you recognise me?" it asked again. It was male, and her mind jumped to the gods. Only they would have to power to go into her dreams. But which god, that was the question. There were hundreds of possibilities, thousands even with all the minor gods and free titans._

 _"I'm sorry my lord," she whispered, blue eyes still searching._

 _"That won't do," the voice answered. Immediately the room transformed around her, a completely golden interior. Instruments and books were also all over the room, in a way that seemed to be an organised mess. There was only one god that would have a room that looked like this._

 _"Lord Apollo," she said, looking around to try to find the god in question. He had been right behind her the whole time. Like in her own world, he looked like a model. Curly blonde hair, an athletic body with a great tan. The oldest she would've guessed him if she did't know who he was would be 19._

 _"Lord makes me feel old, just call me Apollo," he answered, a bit more relaxed than he had seemed to be before. He was still more strung up than she'd ever seen him before though. Normally he was so relaxed it was barely believable that he was a god who had lived through so much, been in wars and capable of torturing those who spoke against him. This was the serious side of the god. A side that truly terrified her, even though he wasn't currently a threat._

 _"Uh… yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Lo- Apollo," she corrected herself, quickly stumbling over all of her words._

 _"I didn't believe Hestia," he murmured, his blue eyes glancing over her. An amused look crossing his face. He moved closer to her, almost intimately close as he leaned in towards her neck. Her entire body tensed, the demigod struggling not to move a muscle. At that moment she heard the large amount of air he breathed in. A small tremor ran through her, fear as to why he was smelling her. This was creepier than any of her past experiences with greek gods. "No legacy of mine that is sired by another god has looked like me before… if it wasn't for your smell, I'd mistake you for one of mine. But you definitely smell like Ares."_

 _Valerie's mind was blank. Something about this was abnormal. It put her on edge, something beyond the cells of her body that always screamed 'danger' when she was around a god or powerful demigod. This took it to a new level._

 _This Apollo seemed a lot less civilised than the one she knew._

 _"From another world," the god mused, as he took a few steps back. "There's much you have to learn, and much that we hope you will do."_

 _The demigod had a vague understanding. There were quests in her world, threats that had been halted by the demigods there. Here… no one had been around for the last decades. With the possibility of Kronos rising here, as well as Gaea's awakening._

 _Valerie was screwed._

 _The god in front of her chuckled, something that seemed a lot darker than the cheerful, and in some ways slightly pathetic, version that she was accustomed to. This one actually seemed like he was millennia's old._

 _"I don't think that I could actually do that, by myself… quests normally take three-"_

 _"Things here won't play out the way they did in your world," the god interrupted knowingly. "When the time is right, you will know what to do. Make me proud."_

 _"But don't I need a pro-"_

* * *

Valerie's body jolted upright.

"Phecy," she finished dejectedly, the picture of the god still in her mind. Both of the Winchester's were awake, she knew that. Both of them had glanced over the moment she shot up.

There was no way she was going to explain this to them. Considering they were already suspicious about her being a demigod, it was practically impossible that telling them she had just had an encounter with one of the Olympians would go down well.

"Did you learn anything about the thing you couldn't kill?" she asked harshly, narrowing her eyes at the two men in an attempt to move them into action and stop them asking any questions.

"Not like you did any better than us last night, sweetheart," Dean returned, just as much sass in him as Sam just gave her his 'bitch face'.

"I was hoping for a vision," Val countered. It wasn't true, but it was something that could've happened. It was also preferable over being stuck in your mind with a god. That comment had also morphed the looks of annoyance on the brother's faces into questioning looks. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed to sit and look at the brothers she just shrugged. "It happens sometimes… most demigods do get vague visions of the future or things going on."

Being a legacy of Apollo just increased the likelihood.

And also the quality of the visions she experienced.

Another thing that she wouldn't explain to the brothers for a while. There was still a lack of trust in the relationship that they had, but Valerie wasn't going to be the one to let her walls down first. It was a lesson that stuck with her since she was a teenager.

"But we did figure something out, and Dean thinks he know's where it started, so get ready we're leaving soon," Sam told her.

"Care to fill me in?" the girl asked, stretching her arms up as she stood. Tilting her head to the side she heard three soft cracks on one side, none on the other. It bothered her slightly, the tense feeling in half her neck. There wasn't much she could do about it though aside from waiting a while.

"Someone added a new post on the Hellhound site. It said Mordechai was really a satanist who chopped up his victims with an axe before slitting his own wrists," Sam summarised, his own eyes focussed on packing up his stuff. "Dean also remembered where he saw that one symbol, it's on an album cover… he thinks it started with that guy at the album store."

"And that's where we're going now?"

"After breakfast," Dean confirmed. Valerie nodded, pulling a new pair of jeans and a comfortable shirt and jumper out of her own duffel bag, walking into the bathroom to pull on her own clothes with more privacy. "We're going to take the stuff out already, alright?" Dean called after her.

"Sure thing," she called back, sliding her pants off quickly in an attempt to get dressed quickly. Looking into the mirror, she tried to force a smile, tried to think of other things. It didn't come easily. Sighing, she pulled the blonde curls into a messy bun, making sure to mess it up more to make it look intentional.

There was no time to really focus on her appearance. At least not during a hunt. At least not in this world.

Even in her own, she hadn't had a reason to look pretty in a long time.

Shaking her head at the memory of the last date she went on, she grabbed the clothes she'd worn overnight and walked back into the main room. Both of the brothers were already out, so she quickly stuffed the things into a plastic bag in the duffel bag she carried, and walked out. Sam and Dean were just coming back to the Impala, probably after checking out.

Throwing her duffel bag into the back, she took her own seat behind Dean once again.

"I don't really get it though… How is it that the changing of the legend is changing the monster though? Like… if we start a rumour that demigods are allergic to salt isn't going to give me a salt allergy," Valerie questioned as the boys also got into the Impala, hoping they had an answer for her.

"That's what we're hoping to find out," Dean answered, immediately driving off.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So admittedly I thought I posted this a while ago, but all my stories went on a temporary hiatus so that wouldn't have changed much with posting. Anyways here's the next chapter and I hope some of you are still around! Next chapter will definitely finish off this episode!**

 **ArgntumAlphaLupus: Thanks for leaving a comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far and I hope that you liked this too!**

 **EmmaSEWW: I know you have a different name now, but that'll wait for the next chapter I post! Hope you enjoyed this as well, and I don't have a clue. I always thought that math should've been more focussed on day to day life maths that's necessary. I still don't know how to report my taxes, but I know how to figure out the third side of a right angled triangle! Totally useful...**

 **The Best Guest: I think you jinxed me! I think I completely destroyed past update times, bright side, the next chapter will definitely be up before next week!**

 **PrincessMagic: Thank you for returning! *sends virtual cookie* glad that you're enjoying this story and thanks for taking the time to review!**

 **2NE1ANGEL: Thank you very much! The exams did go well, so thank you for wishing me luck! Sorry I took so long to update but I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway!**

 **Suz Singer: Thanks for your review and also the criticisms you had! I'll try to go back and update those at some point and also try to implement some of the things you mentioned!**

 **GhostWriter1864: Thank you very much for your lovely review, I'm so happy that you're enjoying the story!**

 **Guest: Definitely continuing it, I just took forever! I'm sorry about that!**


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